The BBC television program “Planet Word“, hosted by Stephen Fry, has featured interviews and demonstrations with at least two prominent Ig Nobel people. Richard Stephens, 2010 Ig Nobel Prize peace prize winner for confirming the widely held belief that swearing relieves pain, demonstrates his work, assisted by Stephen Fry and actor Brian Blessed, on episode 3. […]
Tag: swearing
The Effect of Swear Words on Referees
Do swear words have predictable effects on football referees? A team of Austrian scientists tackles that question in a study called May I Curse a Referee? Swear Words and Consequences. Stefan Stieger, of the University of Austria, together with Andrea Praschinger and Christine Pomikal, who describe themselves as “independent scientists”, published their report in the Journal of Sports […]
Why Do Women Swear?
A study of distaff ejaculations: “Why Do Women Swear? An Exploration of Reasons for and Perceived Efficacy of Swearing in Dutch Female Students,” Eric Rassin and Peter Muris, Personality and Individual Differences, vol. 38, no. 7, May 2005, pp. 1669–74. (Thanks to Alisa Frith for bringing this to our attention.) The authors, who are at […]
Swearing – a psychological tool
“Offensive language (spoken by medical staff and by patients and their families) is often heard in the general hospital.” But, despite its apparent prevalence, its manifestations and clinical implications have have largely escaped formal examination – until now. Dr. Daniel J. Zimmerman and Professor Theodore A. Stern have between them co-authored what is believed to […]